I know what it feels like to be stuck, feeling as though things could not possibly get any better, feeling so low and deep in depression, that it seems the only option is to not be here anymore.

The wonderful Tasha Broomhall is the Director and lead facilitator for Blooming Minds, a published author, keynote speaker and TEDxPerth presenter. She is one of our fabulous guest writers at The Psychology of It. You can find a variety of her articles in our Coping Toolkit. Here is her Conversation on the Couch.

"Self-Absorption in all its forms kills empathy, let alone compassion. When we focus on ourselves our world contracts as our problems and preoccupations loom large. But when we focus on others our world expands. Our own problems drift to the periphery of the mind and so seem smaller, and we increase our capacity for connection – or compassionate action.” Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence.

The first twenty years of my life have been filled with a decent serving of both highs and lows.

Fraser Smith is a counselling psychology doctoral trainee in Glasgow, Scotland. He's passionate about psychology and for helping others in therapeutic contexts. This passion has developed into his career and hobbies, so much so that he started a YouTube channel called GetPsyched where Fraser looks into all different concepts and theories in psychology and illustrates how you can apply them to your own life.

In June of 2016, I learned that an enemy ship had fired torpedoes into my side. One torpedo took the form of chest pains that send me to the emergency room. The tests showed a strong heart, but the cardiologist wanted me to have my gallbladder checked.

Our most recent Conversation on the Couch is with psychology student, Karyn Battersby, who has grand aspirations of slowly slowly working towards being a registered psychologist. She’s hoping to qualify before her 60th birthday and we're sure she will!

Karyn recently asked her friends on social media to describe themselves without using their name, family status or work/career identity and when it was her turn, described herself thus:

"I am growth, I am learning. I love wholeheartedly and deeply, I am authentic. I am courageous. I embrace change (sometimes reluctantly), I am a seeker of truth, new experiences, and knowledge. I am a reader of books. I am a food lover, I am a deep thinker, I am a doer. I am enthusiastic, I am passionate. I am a motivator. I am a people lover. I am a sensual woman. And I am enough."

Matt Reeves is a father, a realist, a community minded optimist and lover of humour and music. Fourteen-year-old Matt loved Guns & Roses. Thirtyeight-year-old Matt still does but he now also collects vintage wine carafes and gives me a run for my money when it comes to being curious about other humans.

It was a couple of years ago at the neighborhood school bus stop when I first met Jane and her only child, Michael. He and my older son, Adam, were both starting second grade, and it was the typical morning routine of sleepy kids lined up, traces of breakfast on some of their faces, others with backpacks half zipped, waiting for the big yellow diesel bus to come chugging up to the stop. Moms or grandmothers stood nearby, steam curling from their mugs of coffee as a light rain fell.